Fossil Free NU delivers letters demanding divestment

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by Lan Nguyen

Fossil Free NU gathered about 30 students and faculty to deliver letters calling for divestment from coal companies to the Northwestern Investment Office Wednesday morning. Student group leaders from organizations such as Associated Student Government, Students for Ecological and Environmental Development (SEED) and Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) came to the event to show their support.

"I came out today to represent the Northwestern student body and hopefully show the Board of Trustees that Northwestern is behind this movement and that they should act accordingly," said Kerry McFadden, social media coordinator of Fossil Free NU.

The group of supporters hand-delivered about 300 letters to Will McLean, Northwestern's chief investment officer. Fossil Free NU collected these letters throughout the year from students and faculty who expressed support for NU divesting from fossil fuels. Members of Fossil Free NU have been working to gain more presence and support for the movement since meeting with the Board of Trustees in November 2014. Organizers of the event said that its goal was to make a statement and show support for the movement, in anticipation of a second meeting between Fossil Free NU members and the Board of Trustees on Monday, June 15th.

"This cause is important to me because I would like to see consistency in Northwestern's actions, showing that they not only care about students learning sustainability, but also making their actions align with the same principles," McFadden said.